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World Athletics champs head to Africa for first time
James Ellingworth • September 16th, 2026 9:26 am
Kenya's Moi International Sports Centre in Nairobi, host of the 2029 World Athletics Championships | Photo: AP
After decades of African athletes breaking records in track and field, Africa will finally host the World Athletics Championships.
Kenya's capital Nairobi won the bid to stage the 2029 edition of the event, the sport's biggest outside the Olympics.
"Taking our championships to Africa for the first time will be historic," World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said as he announced the decision following the Ultimate Championship in Hungary. "Athletics is woven into the fabric of Kenya."
Kenya has long been a superpower in distance running and is second on the all-time worlds medal table behind the United States.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said "athletics is woven into the fabric of Kenya." | Photo: EPA
Salim Mvurya, the Kenyan government minister responsible for sports, said "the world will come to a country where running is more than competition, it is our national story."
There could be records in store thanks to Nairobi being the highest-altitude world championships host in history. The thinner air means less resistance for runners, but they may need time to adapt to the conditions.
London was unsuccessful with a bid for 2029 after last hosting in 2017, while Rome was the other losing candidate.
The championships will also return to Germany in 2031 after a 22-year wait, with Munich awarded hosting rights unopposed.
Coe added World Athletics research had shown Kenya was the most passionate market for track and field among those surveyed.
Julius Yego, Kenya's former javelin world champion, competing in last week's Ultimate Championship | Photo: EPA
The championships will use a stadium that's already being upgraded for Kenya co-hosting soccer's Africa Cup of Nations next year.
"It was important that the World Athletics Championships should come to Africa when we had the right host, the right bid and the right circumstances. Nairobi has demonstrated emphatically that this is their moment," Coe said.
The decision brings recognition of Kenya's status as a track nation, but is likely to bring extra scrutiny of the East African nation's history of top runners being busted for doping.
Marathon world record holder Ruth Chepng'etich is serving a three-year doping ban after joining the many elite-level Kenyan runners suspended over the past decade.
After the new Ultimate Championship brought big cash prizes instead of medals for an invitation-only field of track's biggest names, it's back to the traditional worlds format next year in Beijing.
Next year's world championships run for 10 days, against three for the new Ultimate Championship, with a full slate of events. That means including competitions like the men's triple jump, shot put, walks and marathon which weren't on the schedule in Budapest last week.
The Ultimate Championship doesn't yet have a host confirmed for its next edition in 2028, but Coe said there was "a lot of interest" following the inaugural event.
